Merry Christmas 🎄

Wishing All A Very Merry Christmas 🎄Happiness, Health, Love and Peace


"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour." 

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol 

Anna and Family

Waiting On a Friend *** The Veil Between Our Mortal World and The Beyond

The Veil Between Our Mortal World and The Beyond

When I first posted this painting on Instagram I had no idea where it was going from there only that I wanted it to convey something supernatural.

As I continued painting, the ghosts began to appear 👀👀👀 

Well, I finally finished the painting yesterday and when it came down to giving it a title it was easy. Always loved The Rolling Stones song ; “Waiting On A Friend”, (first recorded in 1972 and later released in 1981) and when I painted Casper The Ghost Cat sitting on a fence post between Heaven and Earth, “Waiting On A Friend” to check in, it was my obvious choice.

Waiting On A Friend

 Waiting On A Friend * Black &White

Waiting On A Friend * Original

Casper The Ghost Cat and a new way of signing my name ***
 A with 2 dots for ghost 👀's  

The Gate to The Beyond

Casper and a little ghost's eyes peeking out from behind the gate.

Look 👀 closer and you will find some ghosts about the house.

I cut in a few holes for the ghost eyes and stars, eventually I will insert wire lights at the back of the wood panel to light them up.

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Early mornings are wonderful because it's a quiet time of the day perfect for having a cup a coffee and reading a book. Upon opening the cover of the book I noticed I had written my name inside it, of course from the picture I think it tells a little secret about me, I love cats; but nothing more.

Anna Belanger is my name but just how many people in the world go by that very same name? And for that matter, how many before me who passed on lived by this identical name?

I remember the first time I was taken aback seeing my name written on a tombstone in Italy. At the time I was very young and discovery my name of all places, on a cold granite stone marking a grave made me feel very uneasy. The grave in the family cemetery had revealed to me a secret; I was named after my dad's little sister who had died very young from pneumonia. Who knew, not me until that telling moment.

At that point I realized my name was never the one and only,it was handed down to me and had belonged to someonelse who lived before me. And again happening to me when I married discovering others who shared the very same name. So, when sharing the same name, how does one make a distinction from the rest? 

THIS HOUSE IS HAUNTED ~OCTOBER GHOSTS

I was sitting in my room when spooky little ghosts👀🎃 👀👀👀🎃 👀peered out from inside the witch's hat. I think this house is haunted👀👀👀

"See these eyes so green I can stare for a thousand years" 👀

"See these eyes so green

I can stare for a thousand years

Colder than the moon" ~ David Bowie

I'm bewitched by David Bowie, collecting dead people's stuff, Halloween🎃......and CATS😻but that's not all , there is more😉later!

WYCHWOOD & THE MAGIC COTTAGE

WYCHWOOD & THE MAGIC COTTAGE 

For me,there is nothing more peaceful than being alone surrounded by the silence of nature, uninterrupted,with a mind free to wander and think all sorts of things.

Sometimes paintings will have the same effect on me without me ever leaving home for truly I am an introvert at heart. Looking into the watercolour field of this old painting someone long ago had painted instantly brought me back to the place I once lived as a young girl.

I believe I was 16 at the time when my dad was offered 2 teaching jobs, one in Ottawa and one in Bermuda, he chose Ottawa and my life had it's coordinates set . The little cottage in the woods of Wychwood my father discovered in Aylmer, Quebec couldn't have been more delightfully Spooky filled with mystery and strange occurrences of which I will write about in later stories. Wychwood or like my friends and I fondly called it, Witchwood was magical; a secluded spot hidden from the world, forgotten. Sadly, today everybody knows : )



We settled in a tiny white cottage steps away from the Ottawa River and many of the cottages including ours were surrounded by fragrant White Pines, one of my very favourite trees. My years there weren't the happiest, my parents split and the dream house my dad built next to the tiny cottage had to be sold but out of the stormy days there was one very cold night in September 1976, when my friend Diana and I ventured to town to the local pub,The British Hotel which still stands there today.
On that chilly night I took a motorcycle ride of my life with a tall skinny fellow from Val D'Or,Quebec, who later became my husband !Thirteen years later to the day of our meeting our son, Ty was born. Back when I lived in Wychwood I may have not been cognizant of it's magic but today I know just how special a place it was and still is .....for me!

FIRST WITCH ~ BRIDGET BISHOP AKA BB

FIRST WITCH ~ Bridget Bishop aka B.B.

There in the hidden corner behind the witch tree,the little black cat with golden eyes sat keeping watch over his beloved witch, B.B. Salem was the witch’s only cat and when Bridget Bishop was taken away , put on trial for practicing witchcraft and hung, the little cat was left alone, naturally becoming the guardian of Bishop House, his only comfort a portrait of his mistress by his side.

A gathering of estate sale finds, Witch Potion Bottles I made, a few crystals from my collection and Sid Dickens Heart Wall plaques are some of the props I used in creating The Alter for Bridget Bishop, the first witch to hang on June 10th/ 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.

The portrait of the lovely enchantress is an antique find from a Grenville/Leeds antique dealer; I swapped two of my Eaton paintings for it plus twenty dollars.

Bringing her home I always thought of her a witch, a very beautiful witch.